A Father's Solution for His Son Turns into a Breakthrough For Prosthetics

Within days of being born, Sol Ryan had the lower-half of his left-arm amputated. Under current National Health Service guidelines, Sol would have to wait one year before a non-functional, cosmetic prosthesis could be fitted and over three years for a functional, myoelectric prosthetic. Infant development studies show children are more likely to reject a prosthetic if they are fitted over the age of two. The earlier a functional prosthetic is fitted, the more likely a child will continue using it into adulthood.

Months after Sol’s amputation, Ben Ryan, his father, began researching ways to make a new prosthetic to accelerate this process, and not long after that, he founded Ambionics (Additive Manufactured Bionics). One year later, his infant son Sol was able to enjoy the benefits of a fully-functional, 3D printed prosthetic arm.

With DAHB technology, Sol is able to manually operate his prosthetic arm or get assistive power from a motorized pump.

“In founding Ambionics, it is my goal to ensure that limb deficient children like my son are not faced with the current constraints and delays of traditional prosthetic manufacturing. 3D printing enabled us to design and print a solution very quickly and cost-effectively.”